1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for managing menu functions in a mobile station.
2. Background of the Related Art
The recent remarkable developments in the fields of information and communication have changed the information and communication environments rapidly. Particularly, it is a recent trend that the number of users of the portable mobile stations keeps increasing day by day, and keeping pace with this, demand for the mobile stations also is increasing. On the other hand, for providing convenience to the users, there are new functions added to the mobile stations, and there has been ceaseless research for new functions. The mobile station is provided with the telephone function without questions, and message transmission/reception functions, data storage functions, functions for receiving various teletext services, such as weather, and security information, and the like. And, recently the mobile station is provided with even the Internet function.
In the meantime, a menu function for managing the various functions of the mobile station are operative in a form of “hierarchical optimum menu”. The hierarchical optimum menu, menus produced at the time of production of the mobile station and stored in the mobile station, denotes a hierarchical architecture of the menus. That is, if it is intended to use one menu, it is required to go through a few steps. The hierarchical optimum menu has a pop-up form of hierarchical architecture. In detail, one main menu has its submenus, and each of the submenus has its submenus, to require step by step approach to access to one of the submenus. As explained, keeping pace with the provision of the various function to the mobile station, a system program for operating the mobile station also becomes complicated as much. And, as an architecture of a menu for managing such numerous additional functions of the mobile station also becomes complicated, the users are also required to be familiar with the architecture of the numerous additional functions as well as methods for using the menu functions which manages the menus.
A related art method for managing the menu functions will be explained, with reference to FIG. 1. It is assumed that the user intended to use a calculation function in the mobile station.
Referring to FIG. 1, at first, the user presses a menu button on a key panel in the mobile station, when a display window (in general, a liquid crystal display) of the mobile station displays basic menu items provided basically by the mobile station, for an example, such as 1. Volume control 101, 2. Telephone bell selection 102, 3. Scheduling 102, 4. Scheduled operation/alarm(not shown), 5. Password 104, 6. Convenient functions 105, 7. Locking 106, and the like.
However, when the menu button is pressed on the key panel, there is a limitation of a number of menu items displayable on the display window owing to a limited area of the display window of the mobile station. In general, two or three menu items can be displayed on the display window. Therefore, upon pressing the menu button, if a desired item is not displayed on the display window, the user operates cursor moving buttons on the key panel, to move the cursor to the desired menu item, such as “6. Convenient functions 105”. As explained, upon moving down the cursor, the menu item “6. Convenient functions 105” is displayed on the display window, and upon selection of the menu item 6., submenus of the menu item are displayed on the display window. For an example, it is assumed that the submenus of the menu item 6 has 1. Automatic area code 107, 2. Power saving 108, 3. Automatic reception 109, and 4. Calculator 110. If there is no “4. Calculator 110” item in the submenu items displayed on the display window at first, as explained, the user operates the cursor moving buttons on the key panel, to move the cursor to the next submenu items. When the user selects the “4. Calculator 110” item, the calculator function is retrieved, to permit the user to use the calculator function of the mobile station.
In the meantime, if the user remembers respective submenu numbers displayed on the display window when the user presses the menu button, it is not required to press the operation of key panel buttons until the intended submenu items are displayed. However, it is difficult for the user to remember all the numerous main menu items and the submenu items of respective main menu items, actually. Even if the user searches the main menu items and the submenu items displayed on the display window for the desired submenu item, without remembering the submenu items, there is still a problem in that the user is required to know which desired function falls on which submenu item. Therefore, the user is required to repeat a process in which the search proceeds to upper menu items, and then proceeds to lower menu items of the upper menu item, for a few times. In other words, if the user does not know that the 4. Calculator 108 function is in the item of 6. Convenient functions 105 in advance, the user can not but waste much time in search for a submenu item for the calculator. That is, in order to reach to a desired submenu item, many times of operation on the key panel buttons are required, and many toggles should be attempted. For example, in order to reach to a seventh submenu item “screen luminance adjustment” under a fifth main menu item “mobile station managing”, the user is required to press the key panel buttons more than ten times in total. That is, in order to reach to the fifth main menu item, four button pressings are required, and then, in order to reach to the seventh submenu items, six button pressings are required, again.
As explained, the hierarchical optimum menu architecture becomes very complicated as many new functions are developed, and many menu items are produced for managing the new functions, to require for the user to waste much time because it is required to go through many steps to reach to the desired menu item. Moreover, the hierarchical optimum menu architecture has many items which are not used by the user depending on the user, that causes the problem that too many steps are required to reach to some of actually desired menu items.